OFFICIAL RECOGNITION OF POSTAL EMPLOYEES' ORGANISATIONS.

I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, as representing the Postmaster General, if his attention has been directed to the fact that the Postmaster General of New Zealand has acceded to the request of the members of the New Zealand Post and Telegraph Association, and decided that official recognition be given to their combination: and whether it is the intention of the Postmaster General to make a similar concession to the Postal Telegraph Clerks' Association of the United Kingdom.

The precise meaning intended to be attached to the expression "official recognition" is not clear. The Postmaster General is at all times ready to consider any representations made, whether collectively or individually, by persons in the employment of the Department, and it is not necessary for any person, in order to obtain a hearing, to associate himself either formally or informally with others. But all classes of Post Office servants have full liberty to form themselves into associations for any legitimate purpose, and any representations from such bodies will be duly considered, if conveyed in suitable terms and through the usual official channels. All those by whom, or on whose behalf, the representations are made must of course be in the service of the Department and the
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questions raised must be such as directly affect all those represented.